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right to hous•ing

2. A necessary component of “the right to a[n adequate] standard of living,” say the bleeding hearts behind the U.N.’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights

“It doesn't make any difference what else you have: If you don't have some place to rest your head, you're in bad shape.” —Malcolm X, in a speech in Harlem

Doesn't housing everyone seem expensive?

It would actually be cheaper than paying for the social services, healthcare and other costs associated with the homelessness crisis. In fact, Utah’s “Housing First” program has found it saves money by simply providing shelter. Besides, the money’s there: The U.S. spends several times more on tax breaks and benefits for high-end private developers than it does on low-income housing. As of 2015, Chicago’s city housing authority sat on a surplus of $379 million. What’s lacking is the political will to treat housing as a right rather than a reward.

OK, but is homelessness really a “crisis”?

On a single January night last year, 553,742 people in the United States were homeless. Roughly 3 million Americans—1 in 100 people—experience homelessness over the course of a year. Since the early 1990s, around 20 percent of subsidized, government-owned housing has been demolished. Much public housing has been privatized, and what remains can be hard to get, plagued by long waitlists and barred to those with criminal convictions.

Let me guess—Sweden does it better?

Yes, more than half of that country’s renters live in municipally owned housing. This includes middle-class Swedes, which creates broad buy-in, reduces stigma and brings us closer to a world where a roof over one’s head doesn’t depend on market vagaries. But it’s not just Scandinavia: South Africa guarantees housing in its constitution (though implementation remains flawed); Hong Kong builds public housing at a higher rate than private, and around half of its citizens live in goverment-owned or subsidized homes; Vienna owns a quarter of the city’s housing stock, a legacy of the city’s socialist days in the 1920s and 1930s. And Jeremy Corbyn just pledged that if Labour takes power, the U.K. will buy homes for those without.

Could the U.S. ever get there?

Organizers around the country are advancing measures like Just Cause eviction and rent control that empower renters to stay put, as well as calling on cities to subsidize public housing rather than luxury condos. Some progressives help squatters find and occupy vacant homes. Nationwide, about 225 community land trusts with a combined 35,000 units are taking housing off the market and putting it under community control.

Yup. Welcome to capitalism, Skippy. Perhaps Venezuela would be more to your liking. You obviously can't handle life here.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-17 19:58:26

Nope. Reality bites, eh, dipshit?

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-17 19:57:24

is it lonely up there on your pedestal?

Posted by Nika on 2018-03-16 15:08:21

ok, lets assume that everyone moves to cheaper cities. then rents go up there, so the poeple have to move FURTHER out , and rent goes up there, and this keeps happening, and it gets to a point where NOBODY can afford to live anywhere. with all your infinite wisdom, what do you suggest people do then?

Posted by Nika on 2018-03-16 15:07:38

Your pathetic attempt at sarcasm failed / backfired miserably.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-16 07:02:07

You know what? I'm sorry. You're right. I just want to acknowledge the favor you did society those many years by holding those heavy property deeds all by yourself and keeping the streets clean of litter by cashing those rent checks that would otherwise flap in the breeze. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to have multiple people pay them a third of their incomes in perpetuity to do it. Bravo.

Posted by Stephen Price on 2018-03-15 16:01:09

Then you move somewhere you can afford. Simple.

In your case, I'd suggest going back to fifth grade to learn a bit about sentence structure, capitalization, that sort of thing.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-15 11:01:11

"According to your masterful economics thesis, we'd see rents going DOWN as rent-controlled units were replaced by newer non-rent-controlled units."

Dang, you ARE an idiot. Pathetic strawman. Let me type really slowly so perhaps you can understand. I wish I had crayons, since that seems to be your level. Old decrepit buildings are torn down because rent control makes them economically unfeasible. New buildings are built, which rent for more than the old ones. Thereby excluding just the target population you claim to want to help with rent control.

It's not exactly rocket science.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-15 10:59:48

Awww. Too bad, Skippy. Why don't you move somewhere where your pitiful earning power can actually afford a place to live? Instead of expecting the gummymint to bail you out again and again?

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-14 23:21:16

You *still* don't even know when to capitalize.But that's okay. I know you you're retarded, and understand that you can't deal with life. Kind of a bummer, but oh well.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-14 23:19:45

Damn. You're even more retarded than the average bear. But what did I expect?

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-14 23:18:13

Funny how you change topics when I point out that your rants about rent control are totally incoherent.

But please, tell us more about that one time you took econ 101 several decades ago, eminent professor.

Posted by Stephen Price on 2018-03-14 11:58:09

ok troll. i have every right to complain. my generation didn't ruin everything. there are no jobs that pay a living wage. most employers cut hours if the min. wage is raised. you cant just work harder because most people can't get a 2nd job because they might have kids, or they just don't want to live to work, and people have physical limitations. employers can't expect their employees to keep up with automation.

so you think we should just school harder? for how long? automation and AI will always be ahead, so go back to school again? NO. It doesn't work that way. you cant just expect people to stay in school forever.

We already have people barely able to survive cause of student debt. they're told more school will solve everything. well that's just not true.

houses are out of reach for the majority of the population cause we have rich kids and parents buying them up either for themselves, or just because of speculation.

Posted by Nika on 2018-03-13 19:40:23

Can you repeat your whining once more? But please try to use English this time.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-13 17:44:05

Funny how you have no idea what you're talking about.Get back to us when you've studies supply demand curves.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-13 17:43:14

I reside in Italy where their constitution states the "Home is inviolable." This has been taken to mean that once you occupy a dwelling you cannot be removed from it until ALL court proceedings against you have concluded and have been found not in your favor. So, my friend who owns a rental property had a tenant who decided after 2 months into their lease, to stop paying rent (and later found out also their utilities.) Of course he went to the police to file the complaint and then had to hire a lawyer to take the renter to court to get them evicted. 2 Years before the case was going to be heard. Right before the case was to go before the judge the tenant left and disappeared. Landlord now was out 2 years rent, which he needed to pay the mortgage, taxes and condominium fees. Then found over 5000 euro worth of damages inside the property. Also he had to pay court costs and lawyer bills. And he is not the only one; this is a routine occurrence. While I agree in principle that people should have the right to affordable housing, this article and its pie in the sky look life fails to take into account the actions of ALL parties; not just the fact that the landlord is the evil one.

Posted by majorhl on 2018-03-13 06:43:38

"Ever wonder why Frisco and NYC have the highest rents in the country?"

It's called real estate speculation.

Seeing as only a small fraction of rental units in either city are rent-controlled (and getting smaller every day). According to your masterful economics thesis, we'd see rents going DOWN as rent-controlled units were replaced by newer non-rent-controlled units. Funny how reality seems to be biased against you.

I live in New Orleans, where rent-control is illegal at the state level. And yet, lo and behold, rents are out of control here too! Which might be a bad thing for a city that lives and dies by a literal army of waiters, cooks, bartenders, and musicians.

Posted by Stephen Price on 2018-03-12 14:10:59

move somewhere else? and with what savings? most cant afford to. the solution isn't just to work more or go back to school. when i say bills, i mean internet, power, water, sewer, and garbage. Lets not forget the cost of gas, care insurance, car payments, and credit cards. yes, internet is required these days.

.

Posted by Nika on 2018-03-12 00:44:15

If your rent *and bills* go up higher than your paycheck, you have two options: 1) More somewhere you can afford. 2) Better yourself so you can afford to live where you want.

Speaking of bills going up... Do you complain to Safeway and Chevron when they are charging more than you want to pay?

Didn't think so.

(In your case, you might want to go back to sixth grade and learn how to compose a coherent sentence before you do much of anything else.)

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-11 20:43:44

so what do you do when your rent and bills go higher than your paycheck, or you cant add anymore roomies in your apt/condi/house ? you CANT "school/job harder". we have these greedy fuckwit developers building huge middle/high density high rises, charging insane prices for a studio or even a 1 bedroom, calling them "luxury" apartments. you can expect everyone to work at one of the big tech companies. theres some that cant or wont. and the employers arnt helping things with cutting hours, not paying the workers a living wage.

Posted by Nika on 2018-03-11 18:57:46

Yeah. Just check over that next waterfall, just west og the rainbow, where the unicorns hang out.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-10 16:36:22

<crickets>

Surprise.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-10 16:35:15

Oh no, the clueless tenant has no idea of reality!

In other news, you better hope you're sitting when a rent law goes in.And that you never have to move.And that you never expect anything but the most minimal amount of repair on your digs.And that the owner doesn't want to move in. Or demolish the building and put up something else. Which will rent for to much for you.

Let's face, if you can barely afford where you are now, life ain't gonna get no better with rent control.

Ever wonder why Frisco and NYC have the highest rents in the country?

Didn't think so.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-10 16:34:53

Yes housing is as natural a right as for any hunting and gathering society or any other creature in nature. As for public housing, i would put an end to it because it makes the lives of the poor worse ghettoizing troubled populations together. What's needed is a political economy that functions so well, there are no landlords-public or private.

Posted by anarchris on 2018-03-10 12:26:37

Oh no, the landlord sez rent control is bad. Time to pack it in, folks.

In other news, water is wet.

Also, wtf is "shelter"? "Shelter" is not a home. You can't buy groceries and bring it back to your fridge in "shelter". Last I heard, banks don't let you open accounts with "shelter" as you mailing address. "Shelter" is not conducive to keeping your day job (half of all homeless people are employed).

Posted by Stephen Price on 2018-03-08 13:09:56

No one has to "sell" my beliefs. You and your ilk obviously have no clue about what you're talking about.

Say, Skippy! Did you give your credentials yet? Or are you just gonna sit and wail "rent too high" for the rest of your life?

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-06 19:19:44

Perhaps you should contact Dayton Martindale to "educate" him about Economics, the info is just above the Comments. Life is too short to waste dealing with people like you in a Comment Section, although it would be entertaining to see how what happened if you went to site like Evonomics or the Institute for New Economic Thinking to sell your beliefs.

Posted by Tazru333 on 2018-03-06 16:47:08

Seriously? I owned rental property in Berkeley for 30 years before finally selling out in 2015. What are YOUR qualifications, Skippy?

Trolling?!? Wow - you ARE this clueless.

Posted by Matthew Barnes on 2018-03-06 14:44:46

You do not have a clue about this subject at all. Why are you trolling in here?

Posted by Tazru333 on 2018-03-06 12:53:09

Rent control has never worked in the USA. Oh, if you're sitting when it passes you might be good. But if you ever want to move - or expect anything but the most minimal of repairs - well, ain't gonna happen.

Problem with many of the homeless is that they won't take shelter where there is loads of shelter. Plenty of room in the midwest. Plenty of vacancies. But noooo. They want their place in Frisco, or NYC, or LA.

And Sweden!?! Great example there. Look into it a bit. Just how long is the queue to get an apartment in central Stockholm? Here's a hint. Decades.